Amazing week. After the pleasure of seeing Naomi James again and meeting her delightful daughter Lois and granddaughter in Sun Valley with friend and writer David Seidler to discuss the enhancement of ALONE AROUND THE WORLD (“Against the Tide”) screenplay for the story of Naomi’s solo sailing voyage around the world in 1978, it was off to LA for a couple of things. 
First the film about the sailing voyage is taking on the serious aspects of a big budget film. Back in 1983 I had the film budgeted at £ 2m. Substantial but do able for a small production company like mine. Now with the advent , but vital inclusion of CGI and the probability of a name star we can add a zero to that number and the picture changes. Now we are talking Hollywood style budget and all that that entails. Your imagination can do the rest. Let the games commence!
Second very pleasurable and important event for me was to go sailing again on the ocean. This I did and found myself out on a very windy sea…in about 20 knots of wind pounding along in an old 34 foot racing sloop at about 8 knots. It was only the fact that the skipper was pal Gary Swenson owner of Ventura Ullman Sails that saved me from begging to get off ! I pulled myself together and reminded myself that I had asked to be there and I found my sea legs, getting a very wet bottom from sitting in a puddle of sea water pooled in the bottom of the boat, in the process, I was a bit out of practice and my change of sides on the boat when we tacked over, was like a beached whale, flopping about. Fortunately Gary is a very experienced, professional sailor and our good friend Rossi was crewing expertly. I had forgotten EVERYTHING but was able to drive the boat downwind (much easier than the other way), for a few wonderful minutes holding the boat on course.
Sailing is one of my great pleasures in life and I cannot express enough my joy at doing it again.
The anticipated challenges and excitement of trying get a big movie going will be balanced by the knowledge that a lot of time will be spent near or on the ocean.
I enjoyed being In LA again… It’s quite an enlivening place and I took the train for the first time from LA to Ventura, which was very comfortable and much more pleasurable than driving in the huge traffic jam that is now 24/7 on the LA freeways. But sailing is the BEST way to go….
2015 Waiting for train in LA
